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The deficit in the current account of Romania's balance of payments reached 5 billion euros in the period January-March 2023, down from 5.43 billion euros in the same period last year, according to data released by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) on Monday.
In the first two months of this year, the balance-of-payments current account recorded a deficit of 2.614 billion euro, by 17.15 percent lower than the 3.155 billion euros deficit in the same period last year.
By structure, the balance of goods recorded a deficit by 150 million euros lower in the first quarter of 2023,the balance of services recorded a surplus by 578 million euros higher, the primary income balance recorded a deficit up 148 million euros and the secondary income balance recorded a surplus by 155 million euros lower, the central bank said.
The total external debt increased by 10.16 billion euros. By structure, long-term external debt amounted to 107.27 billion euros as of 31 March 2023 (69.3 percent of total external debt), up 9.8 percent compared to 31 December 2022. Short-term external debt stood at 47.45 billion euros (30.7 percent of total external debt), up 1.3 percent on 31 December 2022.
The long-term external debt service ratio was 14.6 percent in the period January - March 2023, compared to 16.2 percent in 2022. The goods and services import cover was 5.1 months as of 31 March 2023, compared to 4.4 months as of 31 December 2022.
The ratio of BNR's foreign exchange reserves to the short-term external debt by remaining maturity was 90.9 percent as of 31 March 2023, compared to 80.2 percent on 31 December 2022.AGERPRES
